Review: The Cog is Dead – Full Steam Ahead

Oh my! The Cog is Dead have released their second album, Full Steam Ahead, and I have the pleasure of reviewing it. The Cog is Dead made a big splash with their debut, Steam Powered Stories, so my first reaction to the new album was: „Let’s see if they can keep the level they set with their debut.“

Well, in two words and one exclamation mark: They do!

Full Steam Ahead is another great Steampunk music album (I have yet to listen to one I do not like, actually) and it literally continues where Steam Powered Stories left. Again, every single song tells a little story out of the life and times of a Steampunk city and a Steampunk world, just as Steam Powered Stories does.

I am particularly charmed by Doctor Franklyn, a happy song about a truly horrific catastrophe which can only happen with steam- or dieselpunk technology. I think I listened to it for an hour straight on single repeat. The other song I really liked is The Voyage Home, which is directly connected to a song on Steam Powered Stories. If you have not listened to The Cog is Dead’s previous album, I will not spoil it for you, if you know the album, you can very likely guess which song that is.

The range of musical styles is once again very broad. Doctor Franklyn is ska, there is Vaudeville material and even tango on the album. Yet, there is one song… My Metal Boy, this tale of the fatherly feelings of an inventor towards his clockwork creation completely creeped me out for some reason.

But all in all, Full Steam Ahead leaves nothing to be desired from a musical or from a Steampunk point of view. A very danceable, party compatible album, and it is really fresh, too!